Friday, December 1, 2017 — DT 28517

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28517
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, August 28, 2017
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28517]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
BD Rating
Difficulty - ★★	Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Experience ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools █ - solved but without fully parsing the clue █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by solutions from Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - yet to be solved

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Rufus is pretty much what we have come to expect from him, although there is a word that is new to me that one might be more apt to encounter in a Giovanni puzzle than one from the "Monday Maestro".

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Notes on Today's Puzzle

This commentary is intended to serve as a supplement to the review of this puzzle found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

Primary indications (definitions) are marked with a solid underline in the clue; subsidiary indications (be they wordplay or other) are marked with a dashed underline in semi-all-in-one (semi-&lit.) clues. All-in-one (&lit.) clues and cryptic definitions are marked with a dotted underline. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).

Across

1a   Orchestrated /and/ recorded (6)

4a   Sweet // account I would pursue no further (4,4)

Sweet^[5] is a British term for a small shaped piece of confectionery made with sugar ⇒ a bag of sweets. In North American parlance, sweets would be candy^[5] and a sweet would be a piece of candy^*.

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^* In Britain, candy^[5] means sugar crystallized by repeated boiling and slow evaporation ⇒ making candy at home is not difficult—the key is cooking the syrup to the right temperature.

Acid drop^[5] is a British term for a kind of boiled sweet [candy] with a sharp taste.

9a   Improves // compensation (6)

10a   What's inside /is revealed by/ bird in nest building (8)

The rail^[5,10] is any of various small wading birds with drab grey and brown plumage, typically having a long bill, short wings, and long legs and found in dense waterside vegetation.

12a   State in readiness to move /in/ agreement (4)

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops tells us that the "agreement" in the clue is a treaty such as the one signed on May 14th 1955 in Warsaw. The Warsaw Pact[7], formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defence treaty signed in Warsaw among the Soviet Union and seven Soviet satellite states of Central and Eastern Europe during the Cold War.

13a   Have a good career as a traveller (2,3)

Rufus' clues are sometimes difficult to pigeonhole. Here. I have deemed the phrase "as a traveller" to be cryptic elaboration of the definition rather than a separate definition.

14a   Measure // police service's taken with energy (4)

The Met^[5] denotes the Metropolitan Police in London — otherwise known as Scotland Yard.  (show more )

The Metropolitan Police Service^[7] (widely known informally as the Met^[5]) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police. The Met also has significant national responsibilities such as co-ordinating and leading on counter-terrorism matters and protection of the British Royal Family and senior figures of Her Majesty's Government. The Met is also referred to by the metonym Scotland Yard after the location of its original headquarters in a road called Great Scotland Yard in Whitehall. The Met's current headquarters is New Scotland Yard, in Victoria.

hide explanation

"energy" = E (show explanation )

In physics, E^[5] is a symbol used to represent energy in mathematical formulae.

hide explanation

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Mete^{[3,4,5,10,11]} is an archaic, poetic, or dialect term meaning to measure or measure out ⇒ with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

17a   I must enter complicated reading test, /but/ go to pieces (12)

20a   One looking for scraps may show it (12)

23a   In a high position // at work (4)

"work" = OP (show explanation )

In music, an opus^[5] (plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.

The abbreviation Op.^[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..

Opus^[5] can also be used in a more general sense to mean an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒ he was writing an opus on Mexico.

hide explanation

24a   Want, we hear, // to work as a baker (5)

25a   Fool // left in bed (4)

Here and There
In Britain, a small bed with high barred sides for a baby or very young child is called a cot[5] rather than a crib[5] as it is known in North America. Thus Miffypops' reference to a "small bed".

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Clot^[5] is an informal British term for a foolish or clumsy person ⇒ Watch where you’re going, you clot!.

28a   Pains gripping sick // Greek hero (8)

In Greek mythology, Achilles^[5] was a hero of the Trojan War, son of Peleus and Thetis. During his infancy his mother plunged him in the Styx, thus making his body invulnerable except for the heel by which she held him. During the Trojan War Achilles killed Hector but was later wounded in the heel by an arrow shot by Paris and died.

29a   Selected // socks needed in cold North (6)

30a   Reduction, // as included in order (8)

31a   Pattern of Campbell /being/ a follower of Plymouth? (6)

Argyle^[5] is a pattern composed of diamonds of various colours on a plain background, used in knitted garments such as sweaters and socks ⇒ the traditional argyle design associated with golf.

Surprisingly, the name dates only to the 1940s. It comes from Argyll, a family name and a former county of Scotland. The pattern is based on the tartan of the Argyll branch of the Campbell clan.

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Plymouth Argyle Football Club^[7] is a professional football [soccer] club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system, following promotion from League Two in the 2016–17 season.

Down

1d   Stock reaction to panic (8)

2d   Not very bright /getting/ on top of the players (8)

3d   Boy /in/ a whirl (4)

5d   Harvard graduate /shows/ hypocrisy on a ship with Scotsman (12)

This was my last one in which I managed to work it out from the wordplay with an assist from the checking letters — but only with a great deal of effort.

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Cant^[5] is hypocritical and sanctimonious talk, typically of a moral, religious, or political nature ⇒ he had no time for the cant of the priests about sin.

A brig^[5] is a two-masted square-rigged ship, typically having an additional lower fore-and-aft sail on the gaff and a boom to the mainmast.

Ian^[7] (also Iain) is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, corresponding to English/Hebrew John. It is a common name for a Scotsman — and especially so in Crosswordland.

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Cantabrigian^[10] (adjective) denotes relating to, or characteristic of Cambridge, England or Cambridge University, or of Cambridge, Massachusetts or Harvard University^* while a Cantabrigian^[10] (noun) is an inhabitant or native of Cambridge [England or Massachusetts] or a member or graduate of Cambridge University or Harvard University.

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^* Harvard University is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts

6d   It's not fair -- to be kept in it? (4)

Well, if 13a was difficult to classify, this clue is even more so. I think the entire clue constitutes a cryptic definition with a straight definition (marked with a solid underline) embedded within it.

7d   Knocked down // in rude dancing (6)

8d   Succeeded in exam /in/ oral history (6)

11d   They advance and charge (12)

15d   Mountains // in Arabian desert (5)

The Andes^[5] are a major mountain system running the length of the Pacific coast of South America. Its highest peak is Aconcagua, which rises to a height of 6,960 m (22,834 ft).

16d   Begin // to show surprise (5)

18d   Welsh island // fish definitely looking up (8)

Anglesey^[5] is an island and (since 1996) county of north-western Wales, separated from the mainland by the Menai Strait.

19d   Words /which carry/ conviction? (8)

21d   Brief message about an // unfounded report (6)

22d   This style of architecture had its points (6)

Gothic^[5] is a style of architecture prevalent in western Europe in the 12th–16th centuries (and revived in the mid 18th to early 20th centuries), characterized by pointed arches, rib vaults, and flying buttresses, together with large windows and elaborate tracery.

26d   Fuel designed // that deals with smoke problem (4)

27d   Deity /that's/ witnessed in purest horror (4)

In Norse mythology, Thor^[5,7], the son of Odin and Freya (Frigga), is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing and fertility. Thursday is named after him.

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[1]   - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
^[2]   - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
^[3]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
^[4]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
^[5]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford Dictionary of English)
^[6]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
^[7]   - Wikipedia
^[8]   - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
^[9]   - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
^[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
^[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)
^[12] - CollinsDictionary.com (Webster’s New World College Dictionary)
^[13] - MacmillanDictionary.com (Macmillan Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon